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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Teekay Shipping , the Vancouver based world wide tanker operator, is better known for its crude carriers. However they do have eight chemical/product tankers in their 136 ship fleet. Among that group is Teesta Spirit (ex Jeanette -07, Athenian Harmony -04) 29, 242 gross tons, 46,921 deadweight tonnes.

Photo 1:

It is shown arriving at anchor with the pilot boat A.P.A. No. 20 coming alongside to disembark the pilot. Since it is carrying cargo it required a tug escort inbound, and the tug Atlantic Fir is now returing to base. The ship's agent is also coming aboard on Dominion Diving's boat Halmar, and the bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth is also coming along for refueling.

Photo 2:

On completion of fueling Halmar returns to the ship, this time with a pilot for the outbound trip. A tug will soon be joining to escort the tanker.

Monday, March 28, 2011

The much travelled Nirint Canada arrived Sunday afternoon to unload and load. Operating a bi-weekly liner service between Europe, South America, the Caribbean (including Cuba) and Canada, Nirint has found a niche in the transatlantic container/cargo business. Capable of carrying bulk, break bulk, containers and reefer containers, Nirint Canada is a tremendously versatile ship. In addition to all of that she is fitted with two 150 tonne capacity cranes, that can work in tandem to lift 300 tonnes. At 8861 gross tons, 12,002 deadweight tonnes, she is similar to Clipper Merlin that was in last week.

Built in 2001 by Dalian Shipyard in China she is typical of a large fleet of ships built originally for Clipper Elite Carriers (CEC). Built as CEC Arctic, she was renamed Beluga Independence in 2001 and in 2007 became Nirint Force. She then found work as Obsession in 2009, Stinnes Passat in 2009 and Keitum in 2010. She returned to Nirint as Nirint Canada in 2010. She is owned by Eckhoff of Jork, Germany and flies the flag of Anitigua and Barbuda, and is registered in St. John's, Antigua (not St.John's, Newfoundland.)

While in Halifax she will unload bagged nickel sulfide concentrate at pier 28, then this afternoon will move to pier 31 to load boilers and other heavy cargo.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

At the Aecon Fabco shipyard in Pictou the sailing ship replica Hector sits on the ways awaiting its first refit. The assessment of work is to be completed next week. See more on this interesting vessel at http://www.townofpictou.ca/hector_story.html . . The Town of Pictou has recently received financial support to re-open the ship to the public this year when the refit is finished. . Alongside, the navy tug Glenside has completed drydocking and an extensive refit that began last fall. Also at the yard is the tug Mary Steele which is likely there to assist with yard work. The McDermott (Secunda) suppliers Sable Sea and Hebron Sea are also in port in winter layup. .

Meanwhile at nearby Caribou the ferries Confederation and Holiday Island are in winter layup. The season for them normally starts May 1, but Holiday Island is kept in reserve until the height of the tourist season. The white line on the horizon to the right is sea ice.

Northumberland Ferries Ltd has not published its 2011 schedule yet, but when it does it will appear at :http://www.peiferry.com/ [see Update on this topic April 9, 2011]

Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Greek owned, Bahamas flag tanker Butterfly is anchored in Bedford Basin. Built in 2005 it is a 26,913 gross tons, 47,326 deadweight tonnes product tanker built by the Onomichi Zosen KK yard in Japan. As with all modern tankers it is double hulled. It also carries heating coils for its cargo.There seems to be some delay at the refinery. The ship arrived March 23, and went to anchor March 25. A crude oil tanker has been expected for some days, but it is waiting off Halifax at anchor.

The barge Sault au Cochon will be broken up for scrap in Pictou. It was reported today that Aecon Fabco, operators of the Pictou Shipyard, will soon take the barge in hand and cut it up.The yard has recent experience in scrapping, as they broke up the two warships Terra Nova and Gatineau in 2009-2010.

1. A piece of wood is jammed into Sault au Cochon's anchor pocket - a souvenir of her November grounding.

2. Sault au Cochon lies at Pictou, waiting for a berth at the scrappers next door. 2011-03-26.

3. The barge sits at the dock in Forestville 1995-07-21 with a broken back. It was orginally built to carry pulpwood loaded by the long flume structure in the background.

Sault au Cochon was built to carry pulpwood from Forestville to Quebec City. Along with a sister barge Betsiamites and the tug Atlantic (later Laval and now Ocean Echo II) they were built at the Port Weller Dry Docks in 1968.

When that service was discontinued the barge was converted to carry sand and gravel. It saw extensive use on the construction of the Confederation Bridge project. In 1995 while loading sand at Forestville, QC for Borden, PE the barge broke in two. It was later patched together and repaired.

McKeil Marine acquired the barge and rebuilt it as a self-loading/unloading pulpwood carrier. The box sides of the hold were lowered and a travellling gantry built to run on rails the lenght of the hold It carried a modified long reach excavator that would load or unload the wood.

On November 8, 2010 while in tow of the tug Florence M the barge broke free in a storm and ran aground at the entrancer to Pictou Harbour. It was carrying a full load of pulpwood from Anticosti Island to the Northern Paper Co mill in Abercrombie, on Pictou Harbour. Much of the wood was washed off. The barge was refloated November 29-30 and taken into Pictou, where it was declared a total loss due to extensive bottom damage.

The sister barge Betsiamites is still operating in the pulpwood and wood chip trade, with the tug Ocean Echo II, for Groupe Océan of Quebec City.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

What good is a policy if it isn't defied from time to time? My policy is to show only my own photos on this site, mostly because of potential copyright issues. But I have a mystery here, so I will depart from the policy this time.

Somewhere I acquired a photo, which is inscribed on the back "Joe Tait, Chief, S.S. Royal George".

I know a fair bit about the Royal George, but nothing about Joe Tait.

The Royal George was built in 1907 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering of Govan, Scotland as Heliopolis for the Egyptian Mail Line to run between Marseilles and Alexandria. It was a twin funnel, triple screw, 20 knot turbine passenger streamer.

When the Egyptian service failed the ship was laid up in 1909. Canadian Northern Steam Ships Ltd bought her, and a sister Cairo, converted them for North Atlantic service and gave them the names Royal George and Royal Edward in 1910. Despite the removal of one deck she was still quite a lively vessel and acquired the nickname "Rolling George". Her first North Atlantic trip was May 26, 1910 from Avonmouth to Montreal.

On November 6, 1912 she stranded near St-Laurent, Ile d'Orleans, on the last inbound trip of the season, and sank to her superstructure. She was refloated and taken to Quebec where concrete coffer dams were fitted. She sailed December 23 for Halifax for more repairs to get her back home. She went on to Liverpool for permanent repairs and re-entered service June 17, 1913.

In 1914 she was taken up for trooping and carried various detachments of the Canadian Expeditionary Force to the UK. She also saw service in the Mediterranean, where her sister was topedoed and sank with heavy loss of life.

In 1916 the CNSS fleet was sold to Cunard, but the ship kept on trooping until the end of World War I. Her first peacetime trip for Cunard was February 10, 1919, Liverpool to Halifax.

August 19, 1919 she started running Southampton/ Halifax/ New York. She only made nine trips for Cunard, her last being June 10, 1920. After that she became an immigration depot in Cherboug until going to the scrappers at Wilhelmshaven August 14, 1922.

I am guessing that the photo dates from the ship's CNSS days, between 1910 and 1914. (The hat badge is not Cunard), and may even have been taken in Halifax in 1912, altough it doesn't look like winter. That is as far as I can go. So who knows about Joe Tait?

Monday, March 21, 2011

1. Nordpol arrives this afternoon for bunkers. It is quite obvious that this ship has not been through any ice recently.

Today's third bulker arrival is Nordpol. Built in 2002, the ship is a 40,066 gross/77,195 tonne deadweight vessel, owned and operated by Norden A/S of Hellerup, Denmark.

Norden is a very old company, founded in 1871, but it operates a fleet of 166 modern bulkers and tankers. See: http://www.ds-norden.com/

This ship, and its sister Nordkap, have been fixed on ten year charters to Rio Tinto-Alcan to carry bauxite to La Baie, QC, on the Saguenay River. To operate year round, the ships have been reinforced to navigate in ice.

It is carrying a load of bauxite from Port Kamsar, Equatorial Guinea, the largest bauxite loading port in the world. Many Panamax ships, such as this one, are designed to also be Kamsarmax ships. This means that they are built to the maximum length that Port Kamsar can handle, which is 229m. The ship has four 30 tonne cranes and "grabs" (clamshell buckets) for handling cargo.

Norden has also recently signed a contract with Rio Tinto-Alcan for two new ships, custom designed to carry alumina (the concentrated version of bauxite), from South America to La Baie. They will be ice reinforced, and have a low air draft to accommodate height restrictions in some South American ports.

The first bulker to arrive for bunkers today was Nordic Barents. It now flies the Hong Kong flag, but is owned and managed out of Denmark by Bidsted & Co: http://www.bidsted.dk/

It has called in Halifax before as Izara Princess (see above) in 2009. It was built in 2005 as Federal Baffin, named for the arctic explorer (and after whom the Bay and Island were named.) It was built to navigate in ice, and ran for Fednav Ltd, often sailing to the Saguenay River with bauxite for Alcan. It is due at La Baie March 22.

Built by Daewoo Heavy Industries in Goeje, South Korea, it is a vessel of 27,078 gross tons, 43,732 tonnes deadweight and is fitted with four cranes of 25 tonnes capacity and carries clamshell buckets to work cargo.

Unfortunately for this visit it arrived over night and sailed before sunup this morning.

2. Federal Franklin underway for sea.

3. Federal Franklin at anchor this morning.

The second bulker to arrive today for bunkers was Federal Franklin. It is named for the famous arctic explorer Sir John Franklin, and as you would expect it is reinforced for navigation in ice.

Built in 2008 by Onoshima Shipbuilding, it measures 30,721 gross tons and 55,400 deadweight tonnes. It is owned by Mi-Das Line c/o Doun KK of Japan and is on charter to Fednav. It carries four cranes and clamshells for working cargo. It flies the flag of Panama, and is en route Hamburg to La Baie, QC.

La Baie (formerly Port Alfred) is primarily a port for Rio Tinto-Alcan and Fednav has been the major shipper for Alcan for many years. At one time Alcan had its own shipping company, but when it was finally wound up, Fednav bought the ships and operated them under charter. Fednav is now getting some competition (see following post on Nordpol.)

This is the second ship to carry the name for Fednav. The first Federal Franklin, built in 2005 is a sister to the first ship shown above and is now sailing as Nordic Bothnia.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

1. Clipper Legend comes to a stop in the anchorages. The harbour ferry crosses ahead and all is calm at HMC Dockyard.

The chemical and products tanker Clipper Legend anchored this afternoon awaiting a berth at the refinery. The ship was built in Turkey in 2004, 6,522 gross, 10,048 deadweight, and is a larger version of the bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth, built at the same yard in 2007.

Clipper is a large shipping operation with bulkers, project cargo ships (like Clipper Merlin - see previous postings) and is the largest shareholder in Nordic Tankers -operators of this ship. All told they have about 200 ships in their control at any one time.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

2. The ship is tied up at pier 24 where it lifted two boilers directly from rails cars into the ship.

Not Merlin the Magician, but Clipper Merlin, completed loading two boilers today. Wedged in at pier 24, it was not the easiest ship to photograph!

Yesterday's post showed the ship set up to lift, but it could not show the high winds that prevented the operation from going ahead. Things calmed down enough this morning so that the first boiler went aboard. The second went on this afternoon. Each of the ship's cranes was operated by an independanet operator, and a man at the hatch coaming directed them by radio and hand signals to coordinate their movements.

After lashing and securing below deck, the ship will sail this evening.

1. This morning, a crane is lifting one lifeboat aboard. A yellow catwalk runs from shore to the stern ramp. [That is Waterworks Construction's base in the foreground, with their workboat Walrus out of the water for the winter. It is a former BIO survey launch.]

2. Starboard lifeboats are in the falls and out of the water. The bow visor is also raised as work continues on the bow ramp.

Since leaving drydock March 9 , the refit of Leif Ericson has continued at the Woodside dock. Today a shoreside crane was lifting the port side lifeboats on board, and the starboard boats were in their slings. The bow door was up and the stern ramp down, with a gangway for workers to access the ship.

When it goes back into service later this spring it will apparently be used for truck traffic only, unless another ferry is out of service.

The ship was built in 1991 in Norway as Stena Challenger and acquired by Marine Atlantic in 2000 for delivery in 2001. It has refitted in Halifax several times. In September 2003 it arrived here and rode out Hurricane Juan in the Novadock. In 2004 its arrival coincided with Tropical Storm Ophelia, and it had to anchor in the Basin for a couple of days. The current refit started with the ship's arrival January 4, and is a major overhaul (what would be called a mid-life refit in the navy.)

Liberty Maritime Corp is a New York based shipping company that actually runs some US flagged ships. It has a current fleet of nine vessel - 6 bulkers and 3 PCTCs (Pure Car and Truck Carriers.) The company specializes in government and food aid cargoes, including military.

Liberty Pride made a brief visit to Autoport this morning. Built in 2009 by Daewoo the ship is a 6100 auto capacity PCTC and is registered in New York. Since it was not built in the US it cannot operate under the Jones Act (between US ports) but must receive preferential treatment for US cargoes bound overseas. It measures 57,030 gross tons.

Friday, March 18, 2011

The port bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth returns to base after a bunkering job on Malmnes (see below.) The ships has two inflated rubber fenders alongside at all times. This means that she only ties up to ships on her starboard side. The fenders (developed by the Yokohama Rubber Co originally) protect both Algoma Dartmouth and its customer from unwanted knocks and bangs, and also prevents any metal to metal contact which could cause a spark. In today's wind and chop the Yokos were boncing merriyl along beside the ship.

Algoma Dartmouth was chartered by Algoma Tankers in 2009 and purchased outright in 2010. It was built in Tuzla, Turkey in 2007 as Clipper Bardolino, becoming Samistal Due in 2008. It is a twin screw vessel, and although classed as a chemical/ product tanker it is devoted to bunkering duties within Halifax harbour. It is a twin screw vessel o 2999 gross tons, 3568 deadweight tonnes.

Algoma Central Corporation is now the largest Canadian shipowner, in terms of numbers of ships and tonnage registered in Canada. Having just acquired most of the ships of Upper Lakes Group, it dominates Great Lakes shipping. It also has a substantial and growing overseas presence in the CSLI pool and in a recently formed international tanker pool. Its Canadian tanker fleet serves the east coast and Great Lakes, with some coastal trips to the US. The tankers carry only refined products, not crude oil.

Repairs complete at pier 9A the self-unloader Malmnes sailed this afternoon. She was berthed bow north, so rather than try to turn in the Narrows, she sailed out into Bedford Basin, turned there, then headed to sea.

The well named Narrows would be too narrow to turn in without a tug in today's windy conditions.

This move gave a good opportunity to see her self-unloading gear from a couple of different angles.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

HMCS Preserver left Halifax Shipyard on Tuesday and went to Imperial Oil to take on fuel. I detected lots of smoke from her this morning, so it is likely that she flashed up some of her auxiliaries, but maybe not her mains. This afternoon she moved back to HMC Dockyard as a cold move (not using her engines) with the assistance of military and civilian tugs.

This marks the end of the shipyard portion of her $44.7 mn (estimated) refit which started almost a year ago. The ship has long been due for retirement, but thanks to delays in the design of her successor, she had to have this life extension refit. She should now be able to remain in service until the replacement arrives (one hopes.)

Launched in 1969 and commissioned in 1970, she and west coast sister Protecteur, have certainly earned their keep in the RCN. Unfortunately it has cost fortunes in refits for them while waiting for the new ships. Based on recent news, it seems that all is still not well with that program, with the RCN stiff arming the government (and vice versa) over the design/role of the ship, and consequently price.

I say, get on with it or we will be spending another $44.7 million in 5 years or so.

Today's arrival was for bunkers, and Giuseppe Lembo was fully loaded. The Italian flag bulker was fresh from Sept-Iles, QC where it loaded 160,000 tonnes of iron ore. Due to draft restrictions in the port, the ship cannot load to its marks alongside. However problem solved, because CSL stations the self-unloader Atlantic Superior in Sept-Iles and it ferries additional cargo out to the big ships 25 or 30,000 tonnes at a time, and unloads directly into the ship's holds.

Giuseppe Lembo was built in 1999 as Mineral Sakura, but acquired its present name in the same year. Builders were Santierul Naval Constanta in Constanta, Romania. The ship measures 90,884 gross tons and 172,634 deadweight. Due to her large size she cannot pass through the Suez Canal, and is therefore classed as a "Capesize" bulker, since she must round the Cape of Good Hope to make her way around the world. Most Capesizes specialize in hauling iron ore.

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The ship is giving Las Palmas as her next port, bnut that is only a way point. When she reaches that vicinity she will be directed to another port to unload. That could be in noerthern Europe of the Mediterranean..Because of her extreme size and limited ability to maneuver, she had tug escorts inbound and outbound.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

How big can a tanker get? There are bigger ones than this, but they haven't been in Halifax. Granted it isn't easy to get a sense of scale from the photo, until you zero in on the gangway amidships or the bridge.

The monster size Altair Trader arrived in ballast today for voyage repairs, and anchored in the lower harbour. The ship measures 160,216 gross tons and a staggering 311,110 deadweight tonnes. (The largest tankers that bring crude oil to Halifax might go half that size.) It was built in 2005 by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Chiba Works in Ichihara (which is on the eastern side of Tokyo Bay.).

Due to its extreme size it took tug escorts inbound and outbound.

I wasn't able to track its entire progress arriving here, but it seems that it came from the Indian Ocean, via Capetown and across the Atlantic. I assume it unloaded somewhere (maybe Saint John) and is now headed for the next load.

Monday, March 14, 2011

2. The ship has removable tween decks, which are nested forward of the house when not in use. A spare prop is positioned so that one of the cargo cranes can fetch it if needed.

Those of us who go back a ways, will know that the Federal Pioneer that arrived for bunkers today is not the first ship to bear the name.

This one was built in 1999 by Jiingjiang Shipyard in China and is a modern general cargo ship, also fitted for bulk cargoes. It has three holds with removable tween decks (nested on deck in photo number 2.) It can carry grain, containers (984 TEU) and break bulk cargo, using its two 40 tonne cranes to do the work. It is also rigged to transit the St.Lawrence Seaway, which it does frequently. In view of the Seaway opening next week, it is likely headed that way.

It is the fourth ship to carry the name for what is now Fednav, although this one is on charter from Cypriot flag owners, Athena Marine Co Ltd.

The first Federal Pioneer , 2964 gross tons, was built in 1945 at George T. Davie & Sons in Lauzon, Quebec as Bell Park, one of the smaller class of 'Park' ships built for the Canadian government as wartime emergency ships. The newly formed Federal Commerce & Navigation Co Ltd bought the ship in 1945, then sold it in 1950. It ran for Brazilian owners until 1974 as Santa Helena, when it was sold for scrap.

The second Federal Pioneer was a fixture in Halifax for many years. Built in 1944 by United Shipyards in Montreal as Outremont Park, the 7158 gross ton vessel was a North Sands type "Park" ship until 1946. It was sold to Furness Canada, and operated under the UK flag as Brazilian Prince until 1958, on their South American Prince Line. Federal Commerce & Navigation bought the ship and renamed it Federal Pioneer and it came back to Canadian registry in 1959. It traded to the Caribbean and spent the winter of 1960-61 in Toronto with a storage cargo. In 1961 it began an almost unbroken string of summer northern supply trips (every year from 1961 to 1969 except 1967.) Finally by the late 1960s the ship was on it last legs, and it was sold for scrap. It sailed on its own to China for breaking up, arriving at Hsinkiang in January 1971. When not sailing north it spent most of the rest of the year at Purdy's wharf in Halifax.

A third Federal Pioneer started life as the Swedish Carl Gorthon in 1971. An ice strengthened ship, built in Finland, it was lengthened in 1974 increasing its gross tonnage from 4937 to 5595. It was then re-engined in 1978. Fedcom , as it had become known bought the ship through subsidiaries in 1980 and it was registered in Halifax as Federal Pioneer. It also was a northern supply vessel and made rare calls in Halifax. In 1985 it became Cecilia Desgagnés and spent all its summers on norther supply work, with general trading or layup in winter. Replaced by more modern tonnage, it was sold in 2007 becoming Master Joy under the Panamanian flag.

Fednav, as Federal Commerce & Navigation has become, is a major Canadian shipping company, but has no ships under Canadian flag. It owns and charters foreign flag ships for its tramp and liner service, and is one of the largest users of the St.Lawrence Seaway.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

1. I got a two for one shot today as Oceanex Sanderling returned from its refit in Gibraltar and went directly to Autoport to load for Newfoundland.

Almost blocking the view is the tanker Jasmine Knutsen, another of those Canadian flagged, but non-duty paid, tankers operating under a coasting license. Built by Samsung in 2005, it was initially a Norwegian vessel. On December 6, 2005 it took the first shipment of oil from the White Rose field off Newfoundland, and delivered it to Saint John. It did this under a coasting license.

It was registered in Canada 2009-08-27.

It has had a number of coasting licenses, the current one running from October 23, 2010 to April 23, 2011. This permits it to run for Husky Oil Operations, from White Rose and/or Terra Nova and/or Hibernia to Whiffen Head and/or Point Tupper and/or Halifax and/or Saint John and/or Portland, Maine, for multiple voyages. As explained in a previous posting, the ship is Canadian flagged and must comply with all Canadian regulations, but because the import duty was not paid, it must get a license to trade within Canadian waters on coastal voyages. The Minister of Public Safety may grant a coasting license if no suitable Canadian duty-paid vessel is available.

The ship is 80,918 gross tons, 148,706 deadweight, and was built by Samsung Heavy Industries, Goje. It is fitted with thrusters fore and aft and offshore loading apparatus (on the bow) for shuttle tanker work.

1. Malmnes at pier 9A with service vehicles alongside, including a suction truck and a welder..

The small self-unloader Malmnes, a frequent caller in Halifax for bunkers, this time tied up alongside pier 9A. The ship usually remains at anchor and is gone in a few hours. However about once a year it shows up for day or two and has some necessary tank cleaning and other work done.

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Running pretty consistently from the Strait of Canso to southern destinations, it has been a regular since it was built in 1993.

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For other views, and details of the ship, so postings of November 15, 2009 and November 30, 2010. [Enter Malmnes in the Search box to the left.].

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Marine Atlantic ferry Leif Ericson emerged from drydock today to show off her new paint scheme. The added stripes bring her into line with the other ships in the fleet, Blue Puttees and Highlanders, both of which are now in North Sydney, and Atlantic Vision. Blue Puttees has entered service on a trial basis. Higlander will follow soon.

Today also marked the final sailing of Joseph and Clara Smallwood, which will go into standby until Leif Ericsson returns to service. It will then join Caribou in retirement.

Tugs moved the Leif Ericsson to the IEL dock in Woodside for completion of her refit. The ship did not use its own engines.

Tomorrow another ferry arrives. Princess of Acadia will enter the newly vacated Novadock at Halifax Shipyard.

1. Onego Ponza at pier 27. The ship uses its own cranes to offload the cargo of rails.

Termed as break bulk cargoes are those which are not handled by container, are non-liquid, and are not bulk (grain, gypsum.) Halifax saw a decline in these cargoes last year.

One common break bulk cargo in Halifax is steel rails for CN Rail. They are unloaded at pier 27, sometimes directly to special railway cars, or stockpiled on the pier. The rails come from European steel makers, usually on ships of the Onego Shipping.

Onego Ponza is a German owned ship, flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, and on charter to Onego. It was built in 2002 and is 6,806 gross tons, 10297 deadweight.

[Ponza is an Italian island resort, famed for its Blue Grottos, built by the Estruscans.]

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The tanker Axel lies at anchor awaiting its turn to go into Imperial Oil later today. Completed in November of 2010, the ship is almost brand new. It arrived from the Baltic in ballast and will go in to load after the departure of Algoscotia.

It is an oil products tanker of 28,465 gross tons, 50,090 deadweight and is operated by Asahi Marine Co Ltd of Tokyo. As with many non-domestic Japanese ships, it flies the flag of Panama.

It does show some signs of use -there are some rub marks on the hull from berthing, but it is otherwise quite free of mars and scratches.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Several shipspotters were surprised to see an autocarrier at Fairview Cove this morning. Due to inclement weather I did not get a photo, but you can see one on Armchair Captain and more on Cap'n Ken.The ship is Osaka Car [who thinks up these names? She has a sister called Tokyo Car!] built in 2009.It is a Pure Truck and Car Carrier [PCTC] built specifically to carry cars, trucks and other wheeled vehicles. It flies the red duster (British merchant marine flag) and is operated by Zodiac Marine Agencies of London.The reason for its visit was to load a whole flotilla of second hand truck tractors, bound overseas-likely to Africa. The trucks arrived at Fairview Cove last week and were parked all over the place on the weekend. I estimate about 2 dozen of them. Since they were almost all painted white, I suspect they were returned units from truck leasing firms.Normally these ships call at Autoport, which is essentially an auto import facility. There are exports from Autoport too, but they are normally new vehicles. Because its load was used vehicles, which arrived over the road, and for which no particular care needed to be taken, Fairview Cove was a convenient facility.The ship had come up the US east coast from Norfolk and New York, and headed out this afternoon for Baltimore.

1. Sichem Paris displays some significant staining on her hull (it's not frozen spray) when she sails Saturday afternoon.

2. Burak Bey gets ahead of the photographer as she passes George's Island on her way out this morning.

Two more chemical tankers in as many days, but only one had Halifax cargo.

That was Sichem Paris, Singapore flag, 8537 gross tons, 13079 deadweight. After working at Imperial Oil she went to anchor for bunkers and sailed on Saturday. Is that just bad paint, or is it perhaps a souvenir of a caustic spill?

The other was in this morning for bunkers only. Burak Bey flies the Turkish flag, and measures a relatively small 3144 gross tons, 4622 deadweight. She was built in 2007. She topped up for her trip to Falmouth, UK (usually a destination where further orders are received for the next loading port.)

The post-Panamax OOCL Britain sailed this afternoon very high on her marks. Either she unloaded a huge cargo in Halifax, or she is very lightly loaded. One explanation may be that she sailed from the far east at the time of Chinese New Year when manufacturing production is at a low point. Let's hope it is not a sign of things to come.

OOCL Britain was built in 1996 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Kobe, is owned by Orient Overseas Container Line (through a single ship company) and registered in Hong Kong. She measures 66,046 gross tons and is rated for 5344 TEU.

Friday, March 4, 2011

A company called American Feeder Lines has announced that they will be initiating a Halifax/Portland, Maine/ Boston container feeder service "in the second half of the second quarter" of 2011.

The line will use a Jones Act (i.e. US owned, US built, US flag[added]) ship with 1300 TEU capacity - that is as soon as they find one.

They have also apparently signed letters of intent with two US shipyards for a total of ten such feeder ships to operate on the US east coast between various ports.

There seems to be some historic connection between some of the proponents and HAPAG-Lloyd, and their press release refers to the feeder ship Yankee Clipper which HAPAG-Lloyd operated a similar route from 1980 to 1993.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

1. On June 29, 2010, HMCS Charlottetown is wreathed in smoke as she fires the salute to the Queen on board HMCS St.John's at the beginning of the International Fleet Review.

2. Charlottetown is dressed all over in preparation for the International Fleet Review.

HMCS Charlottetown sailed today in response to the crisis in Libya. Although orders are not clear at his point, she is headed for Malta to be ready in case needed for whatever international action my be taken. There is a small Canadian military presence in Malta related to aircraft, but no infrastructure. Charlottetown will provide command facilities, and may deliver aid or take part in a blockade or even in military action.

Her ceremonial sailing at 1000 was marred somewhat by her return to port later in the day, due to the discovery of an unwanted magnetic field. The ship went directly to the degausing range in Bedford Basin and as of 2030 this evening was still there.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

1. Scotia Prince visits Halifax, 1987-04-27 to embark a trade show for Boston.

2. Bluenose emerges from the drydock for the first time in Marine Atlantic colours 1983-04-24.

Part 1

The ferry Scotia Prince, which operated the Yarmouth/Portland service until the end of the 2004 season has lead an interesting life. Built as Stena Olympica in 1971 by the Titovo shipyard in Kraljevica, Yugoslavia, it initially ran in the Baltic on such routes as Gothenburg-Kiel, Korso-Kiel and Gothenburg-Frederickshaven for Stena Lines. In had capacity of 886 berths and 634 deck passengers. More berths were added in 1974.

In 1982 it was sold to Scotia Prince Cruises Ltd of Miami, was renamed Scotia Prince, and began the Portland-Yarmouth sericve. In 1986 it was lengthened 18m., increasing gross tonnage from 7,118 to 12,087. Passenger capacity stands at unberthed 146, berths 1,054.

It was registered in Nassau, Bahamas, and operated on the NS-US route seasonally, with sometime winter service in various southern locations including Tampa-Progresso in 1999-2000. and Tampa-Yucatan/ Merida in 2002-2003.

The owners withdrew the ship from the Yarmouth-Portland service at the end of the 2004 season, following a dispute with the Port of Portland.

In 2005-2006 it was pressed into service for the Federal Emergency Management department and provided temporary shelter in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. It then crossed the Atlantic and operated a variety of Mediterranean routes including 2006:Tangier-Genoa and Oran-Alicante-Marseilles.

In 2007 Clipper Group purchased the ship and chartered it out to a variety of different operators. It ran 2007, 2008: Almiera-Nador and 2009: Almiera-Ghazout.

At the end of the 2010 season running from Ancona-Cesne it went into winter layup in Greece. Earlier this month it was announced that it was to be chartered to Flamingo Duty Free Shop Pvt of India, to run from Tuticorin to Colombo, Sri Lanka for fourteen months. It departed Greece February 18 and passed through the Suez Canal February 20-22.

However it was called back to the Med to evacuate 1200 Sri Lankan nationals from Libya to Malta. It was due in Benghazi February 27.

Part 2

A similar ship was built for Stena Lines in 1973, named Stena Jutlandica. Builders were "Jozo Lozovina-Mosor" shipyard in Trgir, Yugoslavia. It measured 6524 gross tons with a capacity of unberthed 1632, berths 168. [Tonnage was later recalculated as 13,179 when its vehicle decks were included.] In 1982 the ship was renamed Jutlandica, and it was under this name that it arrived in Halifax late 1982 to be refitted for new operators CN Marine (which became Marine Atlantic.) She operated under the Bahamas flag.

In 1983 it was renamed Bluenose, reviving the name of its predeccessor, and recalling the famous Nova Scotia racing schooner. (Not to mention creating endless confusion with its replica Bluenose II.) It went into service running from Yarmouth to Bar Harbor, Maine.

In 1997 the service was taken over by Bay Ferries and the ship ran for them to December 1997 and was laid up in Shelburne, NS and renamed Hull 309. [Her builder's hull number was 162.]

In early 1999 she sailed to Spain and became Euroferrys Atlantica running Algeciras-Tangiers. In late 2010 she was sold for scrap. A deal with Turkish scrappers apparently fell through and she was resold to Indian scrappers and renamed Ace II for her trip to Alang. She arrived there 2010-12-22.

There are noticeable differences between the tow ships, Bluenose has the extra car deck, and prominent hull sponsons to provid added stability. Scotia Prince was lengthened and this can be seen on the section just aft of the bridge where there are more vertical windows.